Mockingbird on the job 24/7

DEAR JOAN: Usually, when I get up, sometimes just after dawn, there is a mockingbird singing outside my house. He sings all morning. He is singing at lunch time and as I get ready for dinner. When I get ready to go to bed, and when I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, that bird is still at it.

I'm assuming he's not just lonely although I'm guessing some of what he's doing has to do with mating. Maybe he's just marking his sonic turf around my house.

I love this songster, he helps make my day -- and night -- but sometimes I worry. Does this mockingbird ever sleep? Does he do naps? Who feeds him and what does he eat? Will he stop if he finds a mate?

The mockingbird is an amazing and tireless mimic. (Mary Ann Anderson/MCT)

Charley L.

Bay Area

DEAR CHARLEY: Being a mockingbird is a tough job. Most of the night singers are males looking for a mate. Females go for the males that know the most songs, assuming that if a bird knows a lot of different bird songs, he's a mover and shaker in the world and will know all the good feeding grounds.

Singing during the daytime can also be a mating ritual, but it's usually done to signal that the territory is taken, not just to warn off other mockingbirds but also the birds the mocker is imitating. Let's say a robin is flying around looking for a good nesting place and he starts hearing the calls of other robins, plus crows, jays and about 30 other birds. The robin figures the trees are pretty crowded and finding food will be difficult.

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The mockingbird puts most of his energy into learning songs and blasting them out at the top of his lungs. That's another signal, too, that he is healthy and able to defend his territory.

Bachelor birds sing through the night and nap during the day. Your bird is, forgive the reference, taking catnaps to keep up his strength. Once he's found a mate, nested and the babies have fledged, he'll get some rest. Mockers eat mostly bugs and berries, but they are omnivores and will eat what's available.

DEAR JOAN: Some of my neighbors are removing or pruning drought-stressed trees. I'm quite sure the orioles were nesting in a mulberry tree.

There are young orioles at my feeder, but is there a second brood on the way? What is the safe time to start pruning or removing trees without disturbing nesting birds?

Esther Rice

Bay Area

DEAR ESTHER: It's OK to do some light pruning if you can see what you're doing and are certain that you aren't disturbing nesting birds. Generally, it's best to wait until November for heavy pruning and tree removal. By that time, the chance of disturbing nesting sites is diminished.

Exceptions happen, but generally orioles brood just once a season, but that doesn't mean there aren't other birds and animals in the tree.

Most birds are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that makes it illegal to "destroy, possess or sell bird eggs, nests, parts and feathers" of any bird native to or migrating within North America. Orioles are on that list.

Ask your neighbors to told hold off on pruning unless there is a good reason they can't wait -- like a branch is about to fall on their house.